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The California Authoritarians

Sciences Po médialab and the CNRS Centre for Internet and Society are pleased to host an exceptional conference with Fred Turner (Stanford University), exploring a central question: How did authoritarianism take hold in Silicon Valley?

Event, Conference

Amphithéâtre 28, 28 rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007 Paris

Abstract

How did authoritarianism take hold in  Silicon Valley? 

From a European perspective, California was supposed to be the land of libertarians and libertines, the home of free software  and free love. Yet today, the leaders of Apple, Google, Meta and Tesla all cozy up to Donald Trump and the ideas of  tech-adjacent right wingers like Curtis Yarvin and Balaji Srinivasan  fuel attacks on the liberal left. 

How did this happen? 

While it might  appear that Silicon Valley has taken a sudden turn  to the right, this talk will argue that the seeds of today’s right-wing  visions can be found precisely in the countercultural history of the  region. The talk will trace a continuity from the Californians of the  1960s counterculture to the founders of Wired  magazine to the right-wing technological and social visions of Big Tech CEOs today.

It will conclude by asking how we can resist those visions, in Silicon Valley and in Europe too. 

Program

Practical Information

Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Venue: Amphithéâtre 28 - 28 rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007 Paris

Language: English

Registration is mandatory via this link.

Conference co-organized by the médialab at Sciences Po and the Centre Internet et Société of the CNRS.